Ballad of the Wind Fish
by Little Waterboiler
Summary: Inspired by something I read people writing about on the Linked Universe discord server: What if Link hadn't been on Koholint for only a few weeks at most, instead for many years?


_Sleepers wake _

Link, the hero of Legend, who had defeated the evil Ganon and regained peace in Hyrule, had embarked on a journey and sailed across the oceans in a small sailboat to new lands, where he saved other countries. After he completed his quests, he began to sail back to his home. But suddenly the seas turned rough and the skies became dark. Link tried everything to fight the strong currents of the waves, but for naught when a bolt of lightning struck the ship and everything went dark.

_Dreams will fade _

Later, on a faraway Island, named Koholint Island, a young girl named Marin was walking along the Shores of the Island's beach. She suddenly spotted someone laying on the sands. Upon looking closer, she found an unconscious boy and tried to wake him, but to no avail. Unwilling to simply leave him lying on the beach, she took the helpless stranger back to her house in Mabe Village, where she lived with her father, Tarin.

When the stranger awoke, he introduced himself as Link, the hero of Legend. At that both father and daughter had laughed, for they had never heard of him nor his home Hyrule. For as much as Koholint was a Paradise, no one ever left it, because there was nothing out there beyond the sea.

_Although we cling fast _

Link could not accept that. Taking his sword and shield which had been washed ashore with him, he build a boat and sailed, only to fail and land on Koholint again. And again. And again.

When night had fallen, Marin found the hero shaking and crying on the beach, wet and cold. And she took him home. And when he got sick, she took care of him until he was healthy once more.

And the ritual repeated. Eventually Link had to accept the fact that he had no other choice but to stay. And thus began his new life on the Island called Koholint, where he found hold and love in Marin.

_Was it real? _

When they both had turned twenty, Link asked Marin to marry him.

They married at sunset on the beach where Link had been found by Marin. Every inhabitant of the Island had come to celebrate and Link, who might have been an Outsider at first, but now had become as much of a citizen as everyone else.

And Link, when he saw Marin in her beautiful wedding gown, ornamented with seagull feathers and flowers and he thought: "This is home."

_What we saw? _

Two years later, Marin bore their firstborn, a beautiful baby girl with Marin's hair and Link's eyes whom they called Melody. Another three years later, they had another child, this time a boy, with Link's hair and Marin's eyes and they named him Arion.

And their luck and happiness was complete, for they had everything they needed.

_I believe _

Many years later, when their children had grown up and had families themselves, Melody having three boys and one girl and Arion having two girls, Tarin sadly passed away in his sleep surrounded by his family. They buried him in the woods where he had loved to search for mushrooms.

Three years later Arion's wife followed, leaving the man widowed with two girls to raise alone, though Link and Marin were quick to offer to help him, thus getting new life into their home once more.

_Lost in dreams _

And then, one day the harmony was over. Link shot up from his dreams, plagued by nightmares. Next to him his beloved wife shifted and in the silver light of the moon she blinked owlishly at him: "Link? What is happening?"

"Nothing, my flower" Link answered his beloved wife. "Go back to sleep." Marin mumbled something not understandable and buried herself back into the pillows, while Link got carefully up, for his back wasn't the youngest anymore (and at parts he had to thank his many adventures for this problem), and left to take a stroll beneath the moonlight at the beach.

And that was when a mysterious Owl suddenly appeared. The Owl explained that high on the mountaintops of Koholint Island is a giant Egg, and inside sleeps a being known as the Wind Fish. And if the Wind Fish were to be awoken, Link would be able to leave the Island. Link interrupted the Owl rudely at that: "Listen, I know that this probably does not come as news for you, but the Wind Fish is only a Myth to get the kids sleeping. It's not real. And look at me! My days of adventuring have long since passed."

Uncaring of Link's protest, the Owl simply continued, that Link should go into the Mysterious Woods to find a Key and then it flew away, leaving Link shaking his head and dragging his old bones back home.

_We sleep on _

"And that stupid Owl said what?!" Ashlyn broke out, rudely, interrupting the story. The fourteen-year-old had a temper that was only matched by that of her grandfather. "Manners" chided her father Arion softly. Link did not care, he simply repeated himself calmly: "The Owl said that if we wake the Wind Fish, it will be possible to leave this Island."

"Leave? But no one ever left, not even you, grandfather" Devis, the oldest of Link's grandchildren, argued, doubt about the worth of the words of the Owl seeping of him in waves.

Marin's eyes meanwhile had become glassy: "Leaving...I could finally see the world and sing for everyone there..."

"Finding a Key in the Mysterious Woods..." Taif, a twelve-year-old started, only for his sentence to be finished by his identical twin Tofan: "...sounds like an adventure."

"An adventure like the one you had when you were young, grandfather. I remember your stories. They were lovely to listen to" Mara, the fifteen-year-old and only daughter of Melody sighed, already daydreaming again about getting rescued by her dream prince of this boring Island.

"It sounds like a lot of fun!" cheered Liandra, with eight years the youngest of them all.

"I could finally see your home country, Hyrule..." Marin breathed out, her eyes meeting Link's. He smiled softly, suddenly feeling a strong surge of homesickness breaking in over him. "Yeah" he replied softly. "I would love to show you everything."

"And us too" Arion smiled, pulling his daughters close, Liandra cuddling into him, while Ashlyn tried to fight herself free. "We all would love to finally see Hyrule" Melody added, hugging her husband, who looked doubtful, for he did not share the rest of the families' wanderlust.

"Well, I guess it's decided then" Marin said. "Let's go and wake the Wind Fish. It'll be a good family bonding time, at the very least."

And so the family went on their quest to wake the Wind Fish together.

_Tossing and turning_

It was the twins who eventually found the Key, which was actually named Tail Key and could be used to get into the tail cave.

"That Owl really exists" stuttered Devis, his mind blown by the firsthand experience of said talking animal appearing in front of the family.

_Stay with me _

"This is dangerous, I should go alone inside" Link said.

"I call bullshit" Ashlyn snarked. "It's dangerous to go alone. Plus you're old and frail, grandpa. So if someone should go alone, it's us kids. We can handle this."

_By my side _

"The Full Moon Cello?" Mara breathed. "It's utterly stunning." "It is one of the Instruments of the Sirens" the Owl explained. "You will have to retrieve the other seven Instruments of the Sirens if you are to awaken the sleeping Wind Fish" it continued.

"Guess this really is just another quest for you, dad" laughed Arion, while Link groaned and buried his face in his hands. Melody elbows her brother, smiling brightly: "But this time you don't need to get through this alone."

_Never leave _

"_I haven't sung this song in a long time" Marin said. "I might be a bit rusty." "Don't worry, my flower" Link smiled, pulling out the ocarina they had found in the Dream Shrine. "I'll be right here, next to you, embarrassing myself with you."_

_Turns out, Marin wasn't rusty and while Link was, it was enough to get the sleeping walrus to wake up. It still didn't stop the teasing of the rest of the family._

_What if the worst comes? _

"_Where is Liandra? Has anyone seen her?" Arion asked panicked, running through the lines of his family. _

"Ashlyn saw her leave, so she followed. They'll be fine" Devis muttered, trying to get the Full Moon Cello to listen to him. Behind him Mara used the Surf Harp to play a soft Lullaby for the twins who after hours of fighting about who of them would get the Conch Horn and who the Wind Marimba, finally got too tired to continue.

"They shouldn't be out there alone" Melody exclaimed shocked. "The monster infestation has gotten worse. It's not safe for them out there. You have to get them, father, please."

"I will" Link vowed, gathered his sword and shield and left the house, only to run into a shaking Liandra, hugging her Sea Lily's Bell, and Ashlyn who was clutching her bow like a lifeline, her eyes haunted.

"What happened?" Link asked concerned. Liandra started crying while Ashlyn's face hardened. "Nothing, Liandra's only gotten lost. We're fine now" she said, her voice cutting. "But we will have to stop this silly quest and focus on the real world." At these words Liandra's sobbing only got harder.

_If someday this sweet reverie ends _

_At first there was a lot of protest, but then, after Link had left for a short while to get away from the screaming, he came back to silence and peace. "This quest was stupid anyway…" Taif said and Tofan agreed: "…it was not an adventure at all."_

_We too, our Memories _

"_These problems will go away, if we just continue to ignore them" Arion said. Melody agreed; "Father may never know the truth. It would shatter him." "So not a word, kids" Marin reminded, and the children nodded._

_For Real _

_Every one was muttering now. It made Link paranoid, for as soon as he was in earshot, everyone quiet down or changed the topic. „What is happening?" he wondered. „And why is it happening?" _

_Fade us by _

_The problems did not disappear, they only got worse. And so the Island community decided that they would give at least on of their members a chance to survive._

_Dream with me _

"_I love you, grandpa" Liandra sobbed, hugging a confused Link. Then beaten up but victorious Arion, Davis and Ashlyn entered, each holding one of the still missing instruments._

"_But now we'll have to go and wake the Wind Fish."_

_By the sea _

_Link held his ocarina and watched in confusion as each of his family members avoided meeting his eyes, as they stood, each holding their instrument, the exception being Marin, who would sing and Melody's husband, who didn't have a musical bone in his body. They all stood in front of the gigantic egg._

"_Let's just…get this over with" Mara said, the all present dreamy tone in her voice missing. _

_And so Marin started singing, Link joined in with his ocarina and then followed the Instruments of the Siren's:_

_We watch the waves crash _

_The Full Moon Cello, once guarded by Moldorm, the Nightmare of Tail Cave, was now played by Davis._

_The Conch Horn, once guarded by Genie, the Nightmare of Bottle Grotto, was now played by Taif._

_The Sea Lily's Bell, once guarded by Slime Eyes, the Nightmare of Key Cavern, was now played by Liandra._

_The Surf Harp, once guarded by Angler Fish, the Nightmare of Angler's Tunnel, was now played by Mara._

_The Wind Marimba, once guarded by Slime Eel, the Nightmare of Catfish's Maw, was now played by Tofan._

_The Coral Triangle, once guarded by Façade, the Nightmare of Face Shrine, was now played by Melody._

_The Organ of Evening Calm, once guarded by Evil Eagle, the Nightmare of Eagle's Tower, was now played by Arion._

_The Thunder Drum, once guarded by Hot Head, the Nightmare of Turtle Rock, was now played by Ashlyn._

And the Wind Fish's Egg cracks open, and the family ventured inside.

_Hold my hand _

After a long battle, they defeated the Shadow Nightmares, the last of Koholint Island's evils.

Link knew the monster tried to tell him something that did not make sense, but his family always cut the monster off by either interrupting it rudely or directly attacking it. And the bits and pieces that Link understood, did not make sense at all. Fading Dreams? Did the monster talk about the Ballad of the Wind Fish?

Suddenly, before Link could break his head any further, a stairway opened and everyone climbed up, where they find themselves in a strange black room filled with rainbow clouds and stars.

Then the Owl appears one last time and reveals that it is in fact part of the Wind Fish's spirit, and thus was the guardian of his world. But before the owl could continue to explain further it got cut off by Ashlyn, who once more interrupted everyone around her rudely: "Stop, you old geezer, please. Don't ruin this, not now. We did everything to keep him in the dark and hold his mind and heart safe. So just…stop…we didn't save you for this."

"As you wish" the Owl agreed and disappeared. Then the Wind Fish appeared in all his glory in front of the family. "BUT NOW WE SHALL AWAKE."

"We?" Link asked, confused. "But you're the only one who needs to wake, so we may leave."

No one bothered to answer his confusion and to explain, instead one by one everyone of his family hugged him, some crying, others not, all of them babbling about how they loved him.

"I do not understand. Why do you act like I am dying?" Link asked, just as he was pulled in a group hug, his back protesting against this treatment.

Finally Marin spoke up, a soft and sad smile on her lips and Link thought that she was still as beautiful as the day he had first laid his eyes upon her: "Don't worry, my love. You are not dying. Everything will be okay. And maybe someday, when you will recall this dream in the waking world, you'll find it within you, to forgive me. Only promise, you'll never forget me."

"Us" Liandra added quietly.

"I promise, I promise" Link said, panic suddenly clenching his heart like a cold fist. "But why would I be in the waking world, I am awake!"

"No, you aren't," Marin whispered, kissing him softly, full of love. "And we're ready to change that."

And then she started singing the Ballad of the Wind Fish, her children and grandchildren joining her in a haunting melody.

And the last thing Link saw before getting swallowed by a gust of water was everything he loved dissolving in front of his very eyes.

_Think of me _

The sky above shone brightly as a flock of nine seagulls flew overhead, the smallest of them landing on a wooden board drifting in the middle of the sea, a blonde boy hanging onto it unconscious. Carefully the little bird picked at the boy's green tunic, trying to wake him, before getting shooed back to the rest of the group by a second, slightly larger but still young seagull.

Link awakened on a wooden board in the sea, part of what was left of his ship he had been sailing these many, many years ago. For once his back didn't hurt him and once his mind registered this little tidbit, he pulled himself onto the board and looked himself over, shock coursing through his venes. Seeing young skin and feeling his young bones, made him almost want to drown himself right then and there.

Where was his home? Where was his family?

They dissolved, no, they didn`t!

Suddenly a shadow loomed over him, breaking him out of his inner thoughts. Looking up, he saw the Wind Fish flying above him in the sky.

So the Wind Fish was real, which means his family was real and they're gone now…

"Family bonding, huh?" Link whispered, almost mockingly, while he watched the nine seagulls fly over him. "No, don't worry, I will never forget you."

And only then he allowed himself to break down and to cry.

_And I'll fly _


End file.
